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Oz

is there any light to energy from the moon to pumpkins?

8/7/2003 1:03:07 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Hmmmm. I dont know how much growth is controlled by the moonlight. But I do know you need darkness for optimal growth. Something to so with converting what was made during the daylight photosynthesis into carbohydrates I believe. I think also daylight length has a lot to do with plant maturation. This is how some Pumpkin growers are able to keep certain plants alive indefinetly(cloning). So break out those hydroponic lights and keep that plant lit up for 14-16 hours a day and compare you september growth to those with shorter days.

8/7/2003 3:04:34 AM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

Yes Mac, it is.
How is it used by the plant? Hard to say. But in equal environmental conditions a plant or a fruit defenetely grows more during full moon days than during black moon days.

Don

8/7/2003 6:30:50 AM

Utah

sorry Don but I don't believe that. got any references ?

8/7/2003 8:59:19 AM

Nova Scotia

i agree with don based on my own experiance. but i beleive it is do more to the gravitational pull of the moon. for more babies are born then along with more crazy people going nuts better fishing ect...

8/7/2003 9:07:38 AM

Cologne / Germany

Here is some information from "gardening and the phases of the moon"(translated). Gravitational pull and push is the key:

decreasing moon - plants forces and juices go into the soil as the moon is in between sun and earth. Much root activity. Best time for harvest and storage. Best time for weeding and insect control.

new moon - no more moon light reflections. Time for regeneration. Best time to treat plant desease (insect or bacterial / fungicid damage). Fertilizing or cultivating work is not recommended.

increasing moon - plant´s forces and juices go back above soil surface. Best time to plant or replant at the beginning of the season. Best time to prune plants.

full moon - the plants are well balanced. Best time to fertilize, but no cutting/pruning this time because the plant (and the fruits) are in a stage of development.

I don´t know if this has ever been scientifically verified. But it bases on the knowledge of the gardeners over hundreds of years. Worth to give it a try in my opinion.

8/7/2003 9:33:11 AM

Nova Scotia

good stuff floh i'm goinging to try it :)

8/7/2003 10:08:46 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

I don't think the light from the moon is enough to make much differance.I do have a light meter but it only goes up to 3000 lumens thats the light level that I grow my seedlings under.I read somewhere that the sunniest days can be 100,000 lumens,a cloudy day here is 1500 lumens we had a real black day thundery that was about 700.sundown is about 350.I never took a reading at night but will try now only thing is how will I read the meter!

Gravitational pull possibly.
I think we could try and find out.
Last year I measured my pumpkin often more than once a day but couldn't find any pattern as to when it would grow in a 24 hr period ie. night day or half and half.
Then I wondered does it get bigger when the tide comes in!
So if like me you live near the sea and know what time its high tide why not measure then and again at low tide to see if it makes any differance.
This could change the world as we know it!
My name is Mark,I'm a pumpkin grower.LOL

8/7/2003 10:51:57 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Oops that should have been 10,000 not 100,000.
Figures qouted for full moonlight are 0.02-0.03 lumens.
Thats half a million times more light available on a sunny day compared to a full moon.

8/7/2003 5:30:08 PM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

This assert is very hard to measure, as the plant life moves from one moon phase to the next. Plant is bigger or is older, which can be better or worse. Day length changes as well, which is a stronger growth force, no doubt. For that reasons, statistical tests aren't very likely to be done on this subject. But... a experienced grower that had grown many different vegetables during a number of years, if he or she is a Nature watcher, can realize what I said in my first post.
Anyway it isn't a matter to believe in or not, for we can't influence in it at all. But if you want to keep a fruit, bulb or root for a long time, I'd recommend you to harvest it during decreasing moon, and for very different reasons but in the same way that, if you have to prune your pumpkin plants, I'd tell you to don't choose a rainy day, if you can, and to do it early in the morning, but with the plant dry from the dew.

Don

8/8/2003 7:34:34 AM

Utah

it is very hard to measure because the effect is negligible... sorry still don't belive a word of it...

maybe BP can start a new astrology message board ... for those who do...?

tides inside your plants ? I don't think so... how about tides inside your body... does everyone in the world feel more balanced when it is high tide time in their area? I don't think so.

Mars is the closest it's ever been to the earth in a long time... and my plants have been the worst they have ever been. I'm sure that's the reason... don't you thinK ??? well i don't think so.

In 1998 the only plant i grew only produced pumpkins that split... yup every single one split between 75 and 100 lbs... and that was the year of Presidents Clintons sex scandle... I know my plant was very upset over all that was going on. And I'm sure that is the reason why all the fruit spilt. I know that plant was a democrat. But in 2000 after it was over I planted all democrat plants and they did much better. Now that Bush is president, we in the states, should only be planting Republican plants.

In addition to havesting during a decreasing moon, I also recommend that you do the hokie pokie and turn yourself around 20 times while listening to Pink Floyds dark side of the moon in orange clothing, (green if havesting squash)before harvesting any fruit. - it will double or triple the effect. I know these things because I am a careful experieced grower and have watched these things over many years.
trust me I know what I speak is true, after all I watch all 5 Star Wars movies often with my children (that is why I wanted to plant 5 plants this year) so the force is with me.

have a good weekend.
gordon :)

8/8/2003 9:24:27 AM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

I do not want to convince you Gordon. I apologize if my post looked that way.

Nevertheless, I like the idea of playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to the plants before harvest. The clothes you wear shouldn't matter however.

Don

8/8/2003 11:22:59 AM

Cologne / Germany

Yep Gordon, that kind of stuff is always good for discussions. It´s all about living in a clarified and technical world where science is the "only" authority to declare right or wrong with its methods of "pure evidence".

Like for our medics: "if my methods and skills won´t heal your illness, there´s nothing else in the world that might help you..."LOL

Personally I guess there´s much more lost or ignored knowledge from earlier times than we can imagine. Remember Maya or Egyptian or Asian culture and techniques...much of it was sacrified due to the arrogance of some folks declaring themselves to be "the modern world".

No I´m not a buddhist or astrology freak at all..just someone saying "give it a chance as long as there´s no evidence it really doesn´t work". Could have been one of our ancestors who created a certain country saying..working or not..just trial and error.

Ingo aka floh, german pumpkin grower, stargazer, moonwalker but a true believer in...what?;-)

8/8/2003 12:01:21 PM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

I am late on the board but still: women’s cycles are synchronized to the moon cycle. This is a fact but how to explain it probably nobody knows. Maybe the moon serves as a kind of clock to living creatures without any direct impact to the physiological processes.
Jernej

8/26/2003 3:57:12 AM